


As Her Own Son

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Fireside Tales [147]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, GFY, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-02-03 11:43:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1743497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She doesn't care what Dumbledore has decreed for the boy who has been left here. She cannot continue to stand aside and let the old man's decision stand. No more than she had ever appreciated that no one had looked out for her sister.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Her Own Son

**Author's Note:**

> Niobe Avery, kidnapping Harry Potter and Dudley Dursley  
> Prompt: Quiet  
> Alternate Universe: The Avery Women

The street is dark and quiet as Niobe stands watching the house across the street, fingers still as she waits for the right moment. She doesn't care what Dumbledore has decreed for the boy who has been left here. That the two are Muggles would be of little matter if Remus hadn't been ill at ease when he spoke of the woman, at least.

After what she has seen when she's had the chance to watch, rather than attend to her own daughter or to her work, she cannot continue to stand aside and let the old man's decision stand. No more than she had ever appreciated that no one had looked out for her sister, though she could still hear her mother's admonishment that it was a family matter, and thus should not be spoken of with strangers.

 _I will watch out for your well-being, Harry Potter, as if you were my own son._ Niobe shakes her head, letting the wand she'd brought slip into her hand, crossing the street with nearly noiseless steps, her unlocking spell wordless. Inside the house, she pauses, debating the order of her actions for a brief moment before climbing the stairs to the bedrooms there.

Two stunners make little light, ensuring the two adult Muggles will not wake while she completes the task she came for. It is surprising, as she makes her way to the bedroom she knows contains the Muggle boy, that no one comes to attempt to stop her. As if no one is properly monitoring the house - a lapse in judgment that makes her scowl. If any of the Aurors had been consulted on this, she knows Alastor, at least, would have insisted on a way to monitor the house.

The boy is asleep in his cot, the sleep of the innocent, and Niobe smiles a little to herself, an almost bitter twist of her lips, before gathering him up gently, casting a silencing charm for now, so his cries will not wake neighbors, if he does cry. He seems to be uncertain what to make of her, blinking sleepily.

"You won't remember this, in time, little one." She carries him downstairs after checking the other room in the hope that perhaps she had been wrong, and Harry were being better cared for than she had seen. There is no cot there, no sleeping child, and there is only one other place where a cot might be to keep an infant.

Unlocking the door to the cupboard under the stairs is easy enough, and Niobe draws a breath to help her push aside anger that will do her no good. It will be difficult enough to deal with the children in addition to her own daughter when she returns home. Shifting the Muggle boy, she settles him with Harry in the cot, lifting her finger to her lips a moment before she goes to find something suitable to shape a sling from. A scarf is easily transfigured, and the Muggle boy settled into it with a little more effort, as safe as she can make him against her back.

Harry, she lifts into her arms, another silencing charm ensuring he does not wake anyone, either, and she carefully closes the door and locks it once more. The same is done to the front door, and then she hurries along the street away from the house, until she is far enough away to settle a glamor over herself and the boys, and hold out her wand-hand for the Knight Bus.

"York," she says without letting the boy who opens the door begin his spiel. "As quickly as you might." Galleons are pressed into the hand of the boy and the driver, greasing the way as close to her home as she dares to get on this sort of transportation.

It's nearly dawn before Niobe is home, slipping in through the servant's gate, and up through corridors that have begun to stir an hour past to the nursery where her daughter sleeps in her cot.

"I don't want to know how you did this, do I?" Remus is waiting for her, looking as if he hasn't slept at all. His gaze is fixed on the sleeping bundle in her arms, with an expression of mingled longing and sorrow.

"Likely not." Niobe steps close enough to hold Harry out to him. "Settle him in a cot, would you? I cannot continue to carry both of them for much longer."

She is glad to see the soft smile that holding Harry brings to Remus's face, and after a moment, removes the silencing charm from first him, than from the Muggle boy. She knows there's little enough time to settle them before she must return to her own room, and ensure that no one will find proof that she is the one who's done this, beyond the presence of the boys themselves.

Remus follows her, leaving Harry to sleep, and Niobe looks at him curiously.

"You know Dumbledore will never allow Harry to stay here, when he finds out."

"By the time he does, I intend for it to be very difficult to remove Harry from my care." She folds the cloak from the night's escapade carefully, setting it into a box that she adds the wand to, and the sling. The robes, her shoes, everything. She'll pack away the clothes the boys were wearing later, though they're not as important to hide as her own from last night. "A proper adoption, to ensure he cannot be taken from this house without both his own consent and that of his guardian. A true Avery."

"How long do you think you can hide this from Dumbledore?" Remus looks both resigned and hopeful, and Niobe smiles a moment, sealing the box with her own proper wand before putting it into the hidden compartment of her wardrobe, closing it with a murmur.

"If no one in this house tells him, I can likely keep it from him for at least three years, perhaps more." Until Harry's formal introduction into the social circles she moves in is necessary, to which she will have to invite even Dumbledore. "I will speak with the Prewetts about taking in the Muggle boy, since they live on the grounds, and that will allow him to visit with Harry regularly."

"To keep up the blood-protections?"

"What is more accepting and inclusive than a child's untainted affection? The woman barely provided the barest of necessities for the boy, and no one is bothering to monitor the house to ensure his safety or well-being." Niobe knows she is scowling fiercely, and it will do her no good to lose control of her temper badly enough to attract her sister's attention. She must keep Harry safe, as she could not keep Grace safe.

Remus sighs, and takes a step closer, wrapping her in a gentle embrace she could step out of readily if she wanted. She sags against him instead, letting herself lean against him for a few moments. It is a weakness she cannot allow herself for long, and soon, Niobe is pulling away, moving to dress for the day.

Appearances must be kept, or all she has done tonight will fall apart too quickly.

**Author's Note:**

> Niobe's sister is her twin, and was bitten by a werewolf when they were six - and Niobe showed her first signs of magic then, in getting them away from the werewolf before she was bitten, or Grace killed. She has never forgotten that Grace was hidden away after, or that her father forbid Grace to attend Hogwarts (and then tried to have her killed). Niobe spent her years at Hogwarts and later at the Auror's Academy with the purpose of doing all she could to be sure no one else had to go through what she and her sister did. Or anything similar, if she could stop it.


End file.
